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Fred Hopkins

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For the suspected mass shooter in South Carolina, seeFlorence, South Carolina shooting.

Fred Hopkins(October 11, 1947 – January 7, 1999)[1]was an Americandouble bassistwho played a major role in the development of theavant-garde jazz movement.[2]He was best known for his association with the trioAirwithHenry ThreadgillandSteve McCall,and for his numerous performances and extensive recordings with major jazz musicians such asMuhal Richard Abrams,Arthur Blythe,Oliver Lake,andDavid Murray.[3]He was a member of theAACM,[4]and a frequent participant in theloft jazzscene of the 1970s.[5]He also co-led a number of albums with the composer and cellistDiedre Murray.Gary Giddinswrote that Hopkins' playing "fused audacious power with mercuric reflexes."[6]Howard Reich, writing in theChicago Tribune,stated that "many connoisseurs considered [Hopkins] the most accomplished jazz bassist of his generation" and praised him for "the extraordinarily fluid technique, sumptuous tone and innovative methods he brought to his instrument."[7]

Biography and career

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Hopkins was born inChicago,Illinois,United States,[1]and grew up in a musical family, listening to a wide variety of music from an early age.[8]He attendedDuSable High School,where he studied music under "Captain"Walter Dyett,who became well-known for mentoring and training musicians.[9]He was originally inspired to learn the cello after seeing a performance byPablo Casalson television, but was told by Dyett that because the school didn't have a cello, he would have to play bass. After graduating from high school, he worked at a grocery store, but was encouraged by Dyett and other friends to pursue music more seriously.[8]He soon began playing with theCivic Orchestra of Chicago,where he was the first recipient of the Charles Clark Memorial Scholarship,[10]and studying with Joseph Gustafeste, principal bassist for theChicago Symphony Orchestraat the time,[1][3]as well as picking up piano duo gigs.[8]

In the mid-1960s, Hopkins attended a concert byAACMmembers atHyde Parkand was intrigued.[8]He began playing withKalaparusha Maurice McIntyre,with whom he would make his first recording in 1970 (Forces and Feelings), and started becoming more serious about improvisation,[8]playing withMuhal Richard Abrams's Experimental Band and other related groups.[11]Hopkins stated that a major inspiration at that time was hearingJohn Coltrane'sColtrane's Sound:"it really changed my whole outlook on music. I knew then that I could do anything I wanted to do... And from that point on, I just got more involved, and started meeting more people over the years."[8]

In the early 1970s, he formed a trio calledReflectionwith saxophonistHenry Threadgilland drummerSteve McCall.In 1975, he, like many other Chicago free-jazz musicians,[12]left and moved to New York,[1]where he soon regrouped with Threadgill and McCall, who also moved there at around the same time. They renamed their trioAir,and went on to tour and record extensively.[13]He also joined the AACM, immersed himself in New York'sloftscene,[3]and, over the following decades, increasingly gained recognition, gigging withRoy Haynes[12]and performing and recording with artists such asMuhal Richard Abrams,Hamiet Bluiett,Anthony Braxton,Marion Brown,Arthur Blythe,Oliver Lake,David Murray,Diedre Murray,andDon Pullen,as well as with various groups led by Threadgill.[12]

In 1997, he moved back to Chicago,[1]stating that he "got tired of the stress" of living in New York, and reuniting with "ten brothers and sisters and 35 nieces and nephews".[12]He continued to perform, tour, and record with a wide variety of musicians. He died in 1999 at age 51 of heart disease at the University of Chicago Hospital.[3]

Discography

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As co-leader withDiedre Murray

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WithAir

As sideman

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WithAhmed Abdullah

WithMuhal Richard Abrams

WithHamiet Bluiett

  • Resolution(Black Saint, 1977)
  • Ebu(Soul Note, 1984)
  • The Clarinet Family(Black Saint, 1987)
  • ...If You Have to Ask... You Don't Need to Know(Tutu Records, 1991)
  • Im/possible To Keep(India Navigation, 1996)

WithArthur Blythe

WithCharles Brackeen

WithPeter BrötzmannandRashied Ali

WithPeter BrötzmannandHamid Drake

  • The Atlanta Concert(Okka Disk, 2001)

WithMarion Brown

  • Awofofora(Discomate, 1976)

WithJohn Carter

  • Dance of the Love Ghosts(Gramavision, 1987)
  • Fields(Gramavision, 1988)
  • Shadows on a Wall(Gramavision, 1989)

WithAndrew Cyrille

WithMarc Edwards

  • Black Queen(Alpha Phonics, 1991)

WithKahil El'Zabar

With The Group(Ahmed Abdullah,Marion Brown,Billy Bang,Sirone,Hopkins,Andrew Cyrille)

  • Live(NoBusiness Records, 2012)

WithCraig Harris

With Tyrone Henderson

  • Not So Unusual Blues(Konnex Records, 2000)

WithMichael Gregory Jackson

  • Gifts(Arista Novus, 1979)

WithFrank Lacy

  • Tonal Weights and Blue Fire (Tutu, 1990)

WithOliver Lake

Performing music ofAnne LeBaron

  • The Musical Railism of Anne LeBaron(Mode, 1995)

WithMichael Marcus

  • Here At!(Soul Note, 1993)

WithKalaparusha Maurice McIntyre

With Marcello Melis

  • Free to Dance(Black Saint, 1978)

WithJemeel Moondoc

WithButch Morris

  • Testament: A Conduction Collection - Conduction 38, In Freud's Garden / Conduction 39, Thread Waxing Space / Conduction 40, Thread Waxing Space(New World Records, 1995)

WithDavid Murray

WithSunny Murray's Untouchable Factor

  • Apple Cores(Philly Jazz, 1980)

WithBern Nix

  • Alarms and Excursions(New World, 1993)

WithIvo Perelman

  • Children Of Ibeji(Enja, 1992)

WithDon Pullen

WithHorace Tapscott

WithMalachi Thompson

WithHenry Threadgill

WithTom Varner

With the World Bass Violin Ensemble

  • Bassically Yours(Black Saint, 1984)

With theWorld Saxophone Quartet

With Various artists

  • Wildflowers 1: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions(performing withSunny Murrayand The Untouchable Factor andAir;Douglas, 1977)
  • Wildflowers 2: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions(performing withAnthony Braxton;Douglas, 1977)
  • Wildflowers 3: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions(performing withMichael Gregory Jackson;Douglas, 1977)
  • Wildflowers 4: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions(performing withOliver LakeandDavid Murray;Douglas, 1977)
  • Wildflowers 5: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions(performing withSunny Murrayand The Untouchable Factor; Douglas, 1977)
  • Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions- Complete(reissue of the 5 discs above on 3 CDs; Knit Classics, 1999)
  • The Young Lions - A Concert Of New Music Played By Seventeen Exceptional Young Musicians - The Kool Jazz Festival June 30, 1982(Elektra, 1983)

References

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  1. ^abcdeFeather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (1999). "Hopkins, Fred (Frederick)".The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz.New York:Oxford University Press.p. 329.
  2. ^Yanow, Scott."Fred Hopkins: Artist Biography".AllMusic.com.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  3. ^abcdRatliff, Ben (January 18, 1999)."Fred Hopkins, Experimental Jazz Bassist, 51".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  4. ^May, Chris (April 24, 2020)."AACM: Together We Are Stronger".AllAboutJazz.com.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  5. ^"Fred Hopkins: Biography".AllAboutJazz.com.June 7, 2015.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  6. ^Giddins, Gary(2004).Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of its Second Century.Oxford University Press.p. 481.
  7. ^Reich, Howard (January 10, 1999)."Fred Hopkins, 51, Jazz Bassist with Unique, 'Creative' Style".ChicagoTribune.com.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  8. ^abcdefPanken, Ted (August 2, 1987)."Interview: Fred Hopkins August 2, 1987, WCKR-FM New York".JazzHouse.org.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  9. ^Lewis, George E.(2008).A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music.University of Chicago Press. pp. 12–13.
  10. ^Lewis, George E.(2008).A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music.University of Chicago Press. p. 482.
  11. ^Yanow, Scott (2013)."Hopkins, Fred".African American Studies Center.doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.39501.ISBN978-0-19-530173-1.RetrievedAugust 15,2023.
  12. ^abcdMargasak, Peter (January 9, 1997)."Home Bass: Fred Hopkins / New York Got Old".ChicagoReader.com.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  13. ^"Air Discography".Discogs.com.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
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